Road to recovery
by Orne
Summary: cole and phoebe have relationship trouble


Phoebe woke up to an empty bed, again, she was getting kind of used to it, Cole had been extremely busy dodging zotars and warlocks that were after his him, she had become accustomed to waking up and not having him there, or going to bed and not seeing h

This is a two part fanfic, it's a continuation of my other fanfics, Hope you like it!!

Phoebe woke up to an empty bed, again, she was getting kind of used to it, Cole had been extremely busy dodging zotars and warlocks that were after him, she had become accustomed to waking up and not having him there, or going to bed and not seeing him, they wouldn't see each other for weeks at a time, she couldn't help but feel sad about it, but she also felt confused, she couldn't explain to herself how a couple who had such passion and were so devoted to each other could simply stop caring, she didn't care if he came by that day, and she was sure he didn't care if he saw her, it was just kind of a burdened relationship. She slowly got up and walked down stairs in her pajamas and into the kitchen, as usual she was the last up, Paige and piper were reading the paper and sipping coffee "morning" phoebe said, happily "well, somebody is happy" piper said, looking up from her paper, "yeah, well, I got up on the right side of the bed" she said as she served herself a cup of coffee, "really? Would this happiness have to do with a certain half demon?" paige asked, smiling teasingly at her sister, sister, the term was still a bit new on her, "um, no actually, it doesn't" phoebe said seriously, she sat down and began to sip her coffee, piper stared at her, flabbergast, "ok, now, I'm going to have to make an intervention, what's up?" she said, getting up from her chair, phoebe looked bewildered at her "with what?" she asked, "with Cole, and you, I mean, you guys don't even look like a couple anymore, did you guys break up?" piper asked, she couldn't help feel curious, she never really liked Cole, but with time, she had come to accept him, and not only that, she had become used to seeing them together, she actually had a soft spot for them "no, no, we're still together" phoebe said, lightly, "ok, than why do you guys never see each other? I mean, are you guys having problems?" paige asked, she had also noticed that Cole and phoebe's relationship had become so neutral, "no, yes, no, I don't know, it's just we're not spending all that much time together, he's been really busy, and well, I… " phoebe trailed off, she stared at her nails and she could feel her sister's eyes burning on her, "it's just relationship stuff" phoebe said, "phoebe, you can talk to us, I mean, we've had our share of relationships, I think we're pretty familiar with relationship stuff" piper said, trying to comfort her sister, "there's really nothing to talk about, I mean they'll probably work themselves out, they always do" she responded, getting up and placing her mug in the sink "phoebe, they don't always solve themselves, and if you don't fix them you'll end up alone, old and senile, kicking yourself when you're 80 which is hard to do and that's how you break a hip!" piper screamed at her, phoebe looked at her, she didn't know whether to be scared, worried, or to laugh. Paige stared at piper and turned to phoebe "she can paint quite a picture, huh?" she asked jokingly, phoebe smiled, "well, maybe we are having a little bit of problems, or, I wouldn't call them problems, it's kind of a rut, I mean, we're kind of stuck in one place" phoebe explained, she figured she could talk about these things with her sisters, piper and Paige looked at phoebe stumped, they didn't know what to say to her, they had no answers for her. "see, I knew you guys couldn't help me, I suppose I just have to talk to him about it right?" she asked her sisters, they nodded uncertain of the answer, phoebe smiled and thanked her sisters, she didn't know whether to actually take their advice seriously, she just nodded and smiled, just to get them off her back.

She walked slowly up to her room and began picking out her clothes for the day, she planned on hanging out at the manor, catch up on her soaps, reading some magazines and sleeping. She entered her closet and looked up and down, she rummaged through her clothes and settled on capris and a spaghetti strap shirt, as she exited her closet she was surprised to find Cole sitting quietly on the bed, his gaze was elsewhere, he looked worried, he looked up at her as she came out and she knew immediately that something had happened, regardless of how much they had grown apart, she saw the worry in his eyes, not only that, the cut on his bottom lip tipped her off.

Cole had been fighting severely with a bounty hunter, but it wasn't just any bounty hunter, it was a special member of the Source's elite circle, he was almost as powerful as the source, which made Cole uncertain of what was going to happen to him, he didn't know whether he could beat him, but that wasn't the biggest of his worries, as he fought with him, his mind drifted to how phoebe and him had become so distant, if he didn't get out of this, the only thing he regretted was not talking to her about their situation, maybe if he had told her he would have something to fight for, if he died, she wouldn't care, she made it obvious that she really didn't care. It hurt him so much when he tried to kiss her and she wouldn't answer with the same passion that he did, so he just kind of stopped feeling the passion too. He no longer tried, he would visit her once or twice a week, sometimes not even, and not because he was busy o anything, but because he didn't want to, but he eventually did go, just to let her know he was ok. He wanted to talk to her, but somehow, every time he tried, nothing came out. A voice pulled him out of his thoughts "balthazor, stop trying, if I don't get you, than he will " the bounty hunter screamed, Cole looked at him, "who?" he asked, "who else? The source" he said, just before Cole's fist connected with his face, he passed out, Cole bent down and quickly snapped his neck, he stared at the lifeless corpse in front of him, the source was after him? He knew that, but he didn't the know that source, himself, was actually going to get him, he knew what he had to do, he had to leave as soon as possible, he had t leave town, but not without saying goodbye to phoebe. He quickly shimmered into her room, and heard her getting dressed in the closet, he would normally surprise her, and make love to her, but given their situation, he decided against it, he sat down and waited for her to come out of the closet.

Phoebe looked at Cole and knew something was wrong, "what happened?" she asked, she approached him slowly, almost fearful, he stood up and looked straight at her, "we have to talk" he said, the tone of his voice was enough to send chills down her spine, she hoped that it would be about their relationship rut, but it wasn't it was something much more serious, "ok, what about?" she asked, he sat down again, and invited her to do the same thing, she didn't, "I have to leave" he said, phoebe looked at him, "what? Like you have to go? Or leave like town?" she asked "door number two" he answered, she sat down "what? No, you can't do that, you can't, why do you have to leave?" she asked, her tone grew higher as she spoke, he told her about the source coming after him, he told her everything without stopping, he realized he was holding his breath as he told it, he never thought that was possible, he watched as phoebe's expression changed, from interest to sad and from sad to anger, she quickly bolted up from her seat and looked furiously at Cole, "so, what, you're leaving me!!!?? Again!!!" she screamed at Cole, he was startled by her outburst, he followed her as she walked out "I'm not leaving you, I'm going away for a while!" he yelled as he continued following her down the stairs and into the living room "you always go a way for a while!!! You always leave!! And guess who has to stay behind and worry for the safety of her lover!!!" she screamed, their voices were incredibly loud now, but to them the tone of their voices were irrelevant at this point "you know what? It's not like you care anyway!!!" he screamed, phoebe bolted and turned to him, her voice became silent and cryptic "how dare you say I don't care? What the hell made you think I didn't care?" she asked, her voice, her posture and her gestures were almost challenging him, "um, let me see? Um, maybe the way you won't talk to me, or the way you won't let me touch you, that kind of gave me a hint, I mean can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you still care?" he asked even more defiantly, "I can't believe you even think that I don't care Cole, yeah, ok, we have problems, but that doesn't mean that I don't care, and I was willing to fix them, but now that you're leaving, than we just might as well break up" she said, she was amazed at her words, not only of that, but of the seriousness of them, Cole stared at her uneasy, he couldn't quite read if she was kidding or if she was serious "what? What are you talking about?" he asked, "you know exactly what I'm talking about, this relationship is obviously not progressing, maybe we should walk away" she said, she turned away from him so that he didn't see the tears that slowly filled her eyes, she blinked them away and turned back to him, she saw the hurt expression on his face, "are you serious?" he asked doubtful, she nodded slightly, he grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her to him, "you're joking, I love you phoebe, you can't possibly be suggesting we do something like that?" he said, she felt his hands strongly on her shoulders, she didn't want to break up either, but it was the only way to stop this, she felt that nothing else could be done "Cole, you have to admit it, it's over, there is nothing we can do" she said, she squirmed out of his grasp he stared at her, his eyes wide with shock and anger, "we can work on this phoebe, we can fix it, we love each other, you can't do this, not now, not after everything we've been through" his voice broke in several places in the sentence, "I can't keep doing this, I can't keep watching you leave, it's breaking my heart, I'm tired of it, I don't think I can take one more, each time you leave, I get more and more depressed, I love you, I do, but, maybe it's not enough" she said, Cole looked at her, and looked at his watch, he had to leave as soon as possible, but he couldn't leave like this, knowing that phoebe wouldn't wait for him, he was desperate, he didn't want to lose her "come with me" he blurted, phoebe looked at him in disbelief, "what? What good will that do?" she asked, "we can spend time together, and, and, reconnect, phoebe you can't do this to me, to us, maybe this is exactly what we need, to get away, change of scenery, I don't know" he said, he was becoming more desperate by the minute, his time was short, so he had to convince her as fast as possible, she stared at him, she didn't know what to say, "phoebe, we need this, our relationship needs this, I'm nothing without you, you know that" he said silently, phoebe looked at him and smiled, but looked down again, "I can't leave Cole, I mean my sisters, the power of three, I just can't" she said sadly, she did want to leave with him, she wanted to fix their relationship but she had other duties and other things to think about, Cole looked at her sadly, analyzing the prospect that he might loose her, "no, no, phoebe, come on, we can't just walk away, I can't see us throwing away something that is so good" he said, "I can't Cole, I can't just leave my sisters, and the innocents, and the demons, just so I can fix our relationship" she explained, "so, do you think that we're not worth saving?" he asked, "no, I never said that, I just can't do it" she said, she turned her back to him and he immediately turned her back towards him, "so you're just going to ignore the feelings, you're going to put everybody before you?" he asked severely, "It doesn't matter what I feel, Cole, it doesn't matter what I want, I have a duty to protect innocents, and if I go away, they won't have anybody t protect them, yes, I'm willing to put other people before me" she responded, "I'm not going without you phoebe, you have to think about yourself for once, I mean, I think it's great that you have this sense of obligation, and I'm happy for you, but you have to realize that you're just as important as they are, and you're happiness is just as significant and sacred as theirs, now are you willing to be miserable for the rest of your life, just because you have to?" he asked, his words struck her as a slap, but a good one, she realized that being together right now was the crucial turn point of their relationship, if they didn't fix it now, they might not ever get a chance, "phoebe come with me, I love you, and I want nothing more than to make you happy, but I can't do that if we're away from each other, it's now or never, come with me" he said, one last time, if that didn't convince her than nothing would, he felt that he had progressed, when she smiled at him he knew she was his, he smiled back and hugged her, it seemed as if all their pride had vanished, the walls that they had built around them, tumbled and they fell in love all over again, she felt the passion as she breathed in the scent for his shirt, he kissed the top of her head and caressed her hair, he felt as if he hadn't kissed her in ages, they let themselves melt into each other for a short moment, when Cole separated himself from he looked at her beautiful eyes "we have to leave" he said smiling, "ok, well, let em say goodbye to my sisters" she said, he nodded "we can't there is no time, we have to leave now" he said, he grabbed her hand, "but, I can't leave without telling them were I'm going, at least" she explained to Cole, "there is no time, and I don't even know were we're going, we just have to make it up as we go" he said, phoebe wanted to complain but she didn't she knew it would lead to a fight, "fine, at least let me leave a note" she said, he nodded and watched as she wrote, she seemed even more beautiful now, she smiled after writing the note and held on to him, "ready for a rode of recovery?" he asked, she smiled and nodded, she was a little uncertain but she knew that with him, everything would be safe, she held on to him tightly as he shimmered them out.

It had been three months since Phoebe had left with Cole, she left a note on the coffee table saying that she was ok, that she was with Cole, Piper and Paige flipped when they saw, and did close to everything to summon them, they scryed, they called balthazor, but nothing seemed to work. They had passed the first two months worried out of they're mind, but decided to stop trying to find them she wasn't dead or else the power of three wouldn't still work, that gave them some reassurance. That particular day they found themselves eating dinner together, it had been an awful day, it had rained and now there was a sever thunder storm in action, when they heard the door open and close they dropped their forks and bolted toward the door, they knew that it could only be one person, as they got closer to the door, they saw phoebe, her clothes were wet and torn, her eyes bloodshot and puffy, "phoebe" piper said, phoebe looked up at her, piper could feel the that there was something wrong, she decided to postpone the sermon, "where is Cole?" Paige asked, phoebe looked at her and run to pier, pier held her tightly as she felt her sister breakdown on her shoulder, "Cole is dead" she sobbed.

To be continued….


End file.
